Sectional oar



Aug. 28, 1951 H. J.' GAGNON 2,566,023

SECTIONAL OAR Filed Feb. 2l, 1947 Patented Aug. 28, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SECTIONAL:v OARj Herbert J; Gagnon, Flint, Mich. Application February 21, 1947, Serial No. 72.9;952 s claims. (01.. 9,-24).

This invention relates to an oar and more specifically to an improved type thereof. which is light in weight, adjustable in length and collapsable inl structure.

Igt has long been recognized by personsv acquainted with row boats of the usual; type found onv inland lakes, that there is a real need for a light, sturdy, waterproof and inexpensive oar which can be collapsed or assembled quickly and easily- The conventional one piece oar, commonly in use, is cumbersome to transport primarily becauseY of its; length and/or weight.

Recent increases in `the; production, and improvements in the. quality of the light weight metals and plastics have made them available anddesirable for use in manufacturing where suitable.

Consequently, an improved oar, which is light in weight, sturdy, collapsable, Waterproof, ad,- justable, inexpensive and can be fabricated from the relatively inexpensive-, light weight. metals or'plastics, appears to be desirable- Accordingly, it becomes a primary object of this invention to provide animproved oar which is light in weight, sturdy in. structure, waterproof, adjustable, which may be collapsed or assembled easily and quickly,l and which is especially suited to use with the conventional type inland lake row boat.

A further object ofthis invention is to provide an improved oar as aforesaid which can be fabricated quicklyy andl economically, preferably from the light weight metals orf-rom plastics.

AfurtherA object of this invention is.- to` provide an improved oar as aforesaid. which is comprised of anon-buoyant, material butf which is so constructed as to be buoyantv in its entirety as well as in its parts.

Other objects and purposes will become ap.- parent to those familiar with this art upon rereading the following specication.

I n meeting the objects andpurposes heretofore mentioned as well as othersincidental thereto and associatedtherewith, I have provided a -ferring to the accompanying drawings and upon collapsable oar, Whose blade is cast from any e' light weight metal, such as aluminum or magnesium, and whose loom is fabricated from two lengths of similarly light weight material. When assembled, one tube telescopes the other so. that the overlapped portion occurs where the?,

loomis engaged'by any conventional, appropriate row lock, thereby providing a desirable additional strength at the point of maximum strain and exion. One end of both. said tubes, is adapted to reception of a handle. The other ends are 2 bothslotted and equipped with compressive gripping means. soJ that. thei inner tube can be clamped to` the blade and sov that theA outer tube can befclamped tothe inner tube.

For illustrations oi the said improved oar. to which this invention relates, attention is directed to the drawings, in which:

Figure 1 is abroken plan View of the assembled oar towhich this invention relates.

Figure. 2f isA at fragmentary side elevation View, partially in central cross-section, of thatportion of the saidassembled; oar which includes the handle.. v

Figure 3.4 is a fragmentary side elevation` view, partially in central cross-section, of that portion of saidv assembled oar' which includes the blade.

Figure 4, isf a side elevation.` View of the alternate, canoe. paddle. handle..

Figure.v 5,. is a cross-sectional view of. Figure 1 taken along the. line. V-.Y thereof,v showing. an end View ofY an outside; compressive device.

Figure.- 6 is an enlarged. top. plan View of the said outside. compressive. device.

Figure` -7 is a Section taken on the liner VII-VII 0i Figure 4:.l

Figure 8 is a figure taken on the line VIII- V111 0f Figure 4.

The.- im-proved collapsible oar IIL. a. preferred, assembled embodiment. of which is` illustrated in Figure. l, is essentially comprised of a blade member Ill, a. lower tubular member l2, an upper. tubular member 1.3 anoar handle I4. and two outside compressive gripping devices l5 and I`6. The said blade member Il may be of any Qonventional design. and/or Shape, but. is preferably cast or otherwise formed from, av suitable light weightY material such as. aluminum, magnesium, 0r` DIaStCs; The. said blade may be advantageusly provided with. a pair of centrally located, longitudinally disposed blade. ribs,- ll, one on each face of the said blade, as shown in, Figure l. Such ribs willloterie. theblde against excessive .or harmfull flexions in a direction perpendicular An integral ring flange 2l between the blade II and the blade stem IB provides a seat against which the slotted extremity I9 of the lower tubular member I2 will bear when the said blade stem IB is inserted within the hollow opening of the tubular slotted extremity I9.

The lower tubular member I2 and the upper tubular member I3 may be of any convenient length and strength whereby the one will overlap the other to provide a loom at least equivalent in length and strength to the loom of a standard oar and with the overlapping providing for adjustability within the limits of such overlapping.

The diameters and wall thicknesses of the tubing from which the said lower tubular member and said upper tubular member are fabricated are limited only by the strength they must possess to withstand the loads to which the oar may be exposed. It will be understood of course that the individual diameters of the two said tubular members with respect to each other will preferably, but not necessarily, be such that the lower tubular member may be slidably received within that extremity of the upper tubular member having the slots 22.

It' has been found advantageous, as illustrated in Figure 2, to select the individual lengths of the said tubular members so that the average `zone of overlapping between the upper tubular member and the lower tubular member is approximately l2 inches long and is located at or near to that point in said loom where it is engaged by a row lock, not shown. I

The upper and lower tubular members may be made from any suitable type of tubular material such as magnesium, aluminum or plastics.

A handle I4 of any appropriate material, such `as wood,.aluminum or plastics and of a type such Vas appears in Figure 2, is inserted into the hollow end of the upper tubular member I3, remote from that extremity slidably engaged by the lower tubular member, and secured therein by any convenient meanssuch as cementing, riveting or pressing.

, Said upper tubular member I3 contains an upper tubular partitioning member which is appropriately positioned there within so as to provide a maximum air chamber 26 between the handle I4 and the said partition 25 without interfering with that end of said lower body vmember which is slidably received within the upper body member. The said partition 25 may l be made of a buoyant material such as cork or of a solid material, such as a light metal and may be fixed within said upper Atubular member in anyconvenient manner such as by cementing or pressing. Said partition 25 may also be used asa stop for the inserted end of the said lower tubular member.

The said lower tubular member I2, as shown in Figure 3 is Aalso provided `with an air tight Vchamber 2'I between the lower partitioning member 28 and theupper partitioning member 29.

which partitioning members may be made of pork, aluminum, wood or other suitable material, jand may be secured within said lower tubular member by any suitable means such as cement- .ing, brazing or pressing. The said lower partitioning member 28 is preferably, but not neces- .sarily, spaced only such distance from the slotted extremity of the lower tubular. member to allow A,for jthe .insertion of the bladestem I8. The

upper partition 29 is preferably, but not necessarily, spaced only such distance from that end of the lower tubular member, remote from the slotted extremity I9, that the shank 30 of the canoe paddle handle 3| may be inserted within the hollow end thereof.

Said canoe paddle handle 3|, as illustrated both in Figure 3 and in Figure 4, may be made of any suitable material, but, in as much as it is detachable and should therefore be buoyant, it is preferably made of a buoyant material such as wood.

vIn order that the said canoe paddle handle 3l may be held securely within the round opening at that end of said lower tubular member I2 remote from the slotted end thereof a portion of the stem 30 of said canoe handle may be out of round, such as elliptical (Figure 8). Such elliptical portion will advantageously be spaced from the free end of said stem 30 so that said free end of said stem 30 may be round (Figure '7) for easy engagement of the aforesaid round opening in said lower tubular member.

An outside compressive device I5 of any con-v ventional, convenient type is provided about the lower body member I2 adjacent to the end thereof which engages the blade II for the purpose of securing the blade stem I8 within the slotted extremity I3 of said lower tubular member I2. Another outside compressive device I6 also of any conventional, convenient type is provided about the upper body member I3 adjacent to the end thereof containing the slots 22 iorthe purpose of securing said lower tubular member I2 within said upper tubular member I3. A side view of one preferred type of compressive device is illustrated in Figures 5 and 6; In Figure 5, the compressive device I6 is shown compressing the upper tubular member I3, to which it is secured by means of the pin 32, against the lower tubular member I2. The said preferred type of v compressive device, of which I5 and I6 are two examples, is comprised of a compression ring 3 3, a compression link 34 and a compression lever 35, which is pivoted upon the compression ring 33 by means of the dovetail hinge 36.

The said compressive devices I5 and I6 are identical in every respect other than the diameter of the ring 33 which is varied in order to t snugly around the two different diameters of the upper and lower tubular members.

Although the above mentioned drawings and description apply to one particular, preferred embodiment of the invention it is not my intention, implied or otherwise, to eliminate other variations or modifications which do not depart from the scope of the invention unless specifically stated to the contrary in the hereinafter appended claims.

I claim:

l. An adjustable, collapsible, lightweight oar comprising in combination: a lower metallic tubular member having substantially longitudinally aligned slots in one end thereof, a pair of liquid tight partitions within said tubular mem- Vber each near to, respectively, but spaced from,

on said oar, normally engaged by a rowlockj will be located within the zone of telescoping between said upper and lower tubular members, a liquid tight partition within said'upper tubular member but spaced from said slotted end of said upper tubular member and adjacent the last-named end of said lower tubular member and quickly Yreleasable second outside compressive means .affixed to and circumscribing the slotted end of said upper tubular member for positively and releasably securing said upper and lower tubular lmembers together; a non-metallic handle having one portion adapted for manual engagement and another portion tightlyinsertable within and secured to that end of said upper tubular member remote from its slotted end; a metallic blade member having a blade stem extending therefrom which stem is snugly but removably insertable within the said slotted end of said lower tubular member and separably securable thereto by said rst compressive means, said blade stem having a liquid tight hollow chamber within itself; whereby said blade, said lower tubular member, the partitions associated therewith, and said upper tubular member and the partition and handle associated therewith,each comprise units which may be quickly assembled and disassembled and each unit is individually buoyant.

2. An adjustable, collapsible, lightweight oar comprising in combination: a lower tubular member having slots in one end thereof, a pair of partitions within said tubular member each respectively near to each of the two ends thereof, and first compressive means aiixed to and circumscribing the slotted end thereof; an upper tubular member having slots in one end thereof which end, and the portion of said upper tubular member adjacent thereto, slidably and removably telescopes with a similar portion of that end of said lower tubular member remote from its said slotted end whereby the point on said oar normally engaged by a rowlock will be located within the zone of telescoping between said upper and lower tubular members, a partition within said upper tubular member near to said last named end of said lower tubular member, and second compressive means aiiixed to and circumscribing the slotted end of its said upper tubular member for rigidly and releasably securing said upper and lower tubular members together; a handle having a portion adapted for manual engagement thereof and another portion tightly insertable within, and secured to, that end of said upper tubular member remote from its slotted end; a blade member having a blade stem eX- tending therefrom which stem is snugly but removably insertable within the said slotted end of the said lower tubular member and separately securable thereto by said first compressive means, said blade stem having a liquid tight, hollow chamber, therewithin; whereby said blade, said lower tubular member, and the partitions associated therewith, and said upper tubular member and the partition and handle associated therewith, each comprise units which may be quickly assembled and disassembled and each unit of which is individually buoyant.

3. A combined adjustable, collapsible, lightweight boat propelling device, the combination comprising: a metallic tubular member having substantially longitudinally aligned slots in one end thereof, a pair of liquid tight partitions within said tubular member each respectively near to but spaced from, each of the two ends thereof, and normally operable, outside compressive means aixed to and circumscribing the slotted end thereof; 'a non-metallic; buoyant handle having a portion for manual engagement and a portion tightly but removably insertable -within that end of said tubular member remote from the slotted end thereof said last named portieri being circular in cross-section at the tube-entering end thereof and non-circular in cross-section in the portion spaced from theend thereof with said circular and said non-'circular portions having the same circumferential length, whereby said handle will enter easily into said tubular member but upon full insertion thereinto will distort said tubular member sufficiently to effect tight gripping thereby; a metallic blade member having a blade stem extending therefrom which stem is snugly but removably insertable within the said slotted end of said tubular member and separably securable thereto by said compressive means, said blade stem having a liquid tight, hollow chamber within, whereby said blade, said tubular member and said handle may be quickly assembled and disassembled` 4. An adjustable, collapsible, lightweight boat propelling device comprising vin combination: a metallic tubular member having substantially longitudinally aligned slots in one end thereof, a water tight compartment within the tubular member, a quickly releasable, outside compressive means afxed to and circumscribing the slotted end thereof; a non-metallic, buoyant handle and means aflixing said handle to that end of said tubular member remote from the slotted end thereof; a metallic blade member having a blade stem extending therefrom which stem is snugly but removably insertable Within the said slotted end of said tubular member and separably securable thereto by said compressive means, said blade stem having a liquid tight hollow chamber within itself; whereby said blade, said tubular member and said handle may be quickly assembled and disassembled.

5. An adjustable, collapsible, light-weight oar comprising in comb-mation: a lower tubular member having a pair of water-tight partitions therewithin and each being respectively near to each of the two ends of said tubular member, an upper tubular member partially telescoping said lower tubular member, a removable non-metallic handle having a portion adapted for manual engagement and another portion tightly inserted within and secured to that end of said upper tubular member which is remote from the lower tubular member and a water-tight partition in said upper tubular member positioned between said handle and said lower tubular member and spaced substantiallyfrom said handle; means holding said tubular members in a selected telescoped position; a blade member having a stem extending therefrom which stem is snugly but removably received within that end of said lower tubular member remote from the upper tubular member and means removably holding said stem securely therewithin; said blade and said upper and lower tubular members of said handle, all being so proportioned that the telescoped portions of the upper and lower tubular members occur at that position between the handle and the blade that will normally be engaged by a row-lock in normal use of said oar; whereby said oar may be assembled and disassembled quickly and its length may be readily adjusted. y

HERBERT J. GAGNON. (References on following page) file of this patent: UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date Robison Oct. 22, 1901 Dtchburn Sept. 23, 1902 Smyth et a1 Nov. 21, 1905 Calderon Dec. 22, 1925 l0 Number Number VName Date Korth Aug. 4, 1931 Bolton Oct. 21, 1941 Goldman July 18, 1944 FOREIGN PATENTS Country Date Switzerland Mar. 1, 1924 France Nov. 28, 1935 

